Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1887-02-15
RY THE FIRESIDE.
Gossiping Items About Various
Matters.

atItESs
Tho product of the "higher education"
po,hing if not conscientious. She is
ant TO be over-conscientious, morbid1y
4 conscientious in fact. She will never
,boy quite what she is capable of till she
/ rots over the feeling that the eyes of the
norld are upon her. The graduates of the
4 ,irIs, colleges are the only American
women who have ever taken themselves
seriolIslv to task for the alleged ill-health
If feminine humanity in this country.
4 Not content with holding themselves
,trictly to account for their state OF pnysi-
H ,al development. eXacting an explanation
Srom every ache and pain, they nave now
daUIsed a new query to put TO themselves.
II was thoroughly characteristic of the
H attitude of the college girl toward her.
seIt and her kind that the address which
avc,t4d most attention at the reception of
the Vassar Aumn1 to President Taylor
CT the Hotel Brunswick last week, and
which has provoked the most comment
among women since, was that OF the new
president of the Alumn% Association,
Mrs. Frances Fisher Wood, in which she
discussed the problem, Does the college
rnfjt women for society? This she called
tbe latest challenge OF civilization 10 the
woman. UuJ sue III OcbbcI udFc Edll6u
e. fine latest question which the over
snxio1ls girl has devised to torment her.
self with. If society and education can't
soree. so much the worse for society. The
hetter the training, the richer The wealth
nj knowledge aud experience, the strong
erthe influence given and received. And
this nobody would seriously dispute, in
snite of the fact, over which the graduate
prleyes more than she has occasion, that
~, nrIc nli xxyff IN
acIous grip to his stock Of Jests and still
regards 1t as comical thing for girl TO
aspire to the sciences.
4 Mrs. Pasmer is the flower of Howells'
Women. She shows family likeness to
the rest of his portrait gallery, for he has
never drawn more than enc type of many
sided feminine humanity, but she is the
most definitely outlined, 'the most care
fully, even eXquisitely, finished OF them
all, and hence serves more carefully than
any other of his creations the chief pur-
pose to which Howells' women can be
nut, that of serving as an awful warning
of what woman ought not to be. "You
must seem to be looking one way when
you were really looking another, you
must say this when you meant that; you
must act as II you were thinking one
thing when you were thinking something
uuite different; and all to no. end, for, as
she constantly said, people always knew
perfectly well what you were about,
whichever way you looked or whatever
you said, or no matter how well you acted
the part OF thinking what you did not
think" 1t would seem that Mr. HowelIs
could not by any effort more cOncisely
set forth his idea of a woman. And, in
deed, Mrs. Pasmer exists. Mr. HOwells
has met her ia society, where she dressed
with some taste and skill, and where with
her quick, futtering, nervous, emotional,
half sincere intelligence she proved a not
unwelcome addition to the company. MIR,
H0wells has met Der and has measured,
with good deal OF accuracy her mental
cahbre, and has scratched, perhaps, with
his realistic pins the shining veneer Of
her refinement, her knowledge of the
world, her gay, bright, somewhat affected
manner. The only trouble with Mr..
Howells is that, with an estimate of values
as eurIOusly false in fiction as in lite,
he mas kept his eyes on her and overlooked
some thousands OF better women,as mucn
more interesting as they are more WIN
some.
The Women's Conference of the City of
New York represents one of the most hope
iul of the philanthrOpic movements of
the day. 80 much of the charity of big
city is wasted for lack of organization,
for lack of understanding of the real
wants OF its recipients. for a lack of
practical business training on the part of
women who have come In great part to
dispense It, that an arrangement which
calls together the clear-hea AIDED and warm
hearted women OF municipality at re-
gular intervals to discuss social problems
is one OF the great desiderata of the day.
The Women's Conference has held its
sessions this winter monthly, and at the
meeting which | attended last week
nearly 800 ladies were present. Miss
Grace II. Dodge, our new school Com
missioner, presided, and Mrs. Charles r.
Lowell, OF the Safe Board,
OF the State Charities Aid Asso-
citation, discussed the wants aud the pros
poets OF the 10000 dependent children in
me asylums and institutions of the city.
what Interested me especially, more than
any information gwen or any topic in
PRODUCED, was the spirit OF the gather
Ing, winch was that of honest, intelli
gent inquiry. The function OF the con-
terence, as lady said to me at its. close,
is TO serve as a rallying point for think
Ing women. Thought awakeners, we
call ourselves" she said, and shall he
surprised If the thinking does not bear
good fruit.
society ate, drank and was merry at an
unusually elaborate dinner one night last
week. The cloth was of cream white silk
euged with lace. A scarf of deep Grim
son plush with golden fringe ran down
the middle OF the table. Sax branching
golden stands held candles, with shades
0 ~ every soft deep tint OF decorated glass.
Inc emma was exquisite, the silver was
FAMILY fortune In itself, tie favors had
Taxed the ingenuity and the resources OF
the Jeweler. The servitors were deft
Hahded, and the courses were enlivened
ny music from an Orcht stra concealed be.
niho palms and dollhouse flowers. Lilies
vi Tue valley tiOated in the finger bowls.
Inere were women hired to sing and
women hired TO read poetry. There were
enormous bouquets for the guests to take
nome with them. The arIthmetican OF
tne party ciphered out it's cost at Isl 500
u IL was cent" And on my walk about
Tue Guy the morning after it took place
sd" woman in the little yard OF n rear
tenement splitting wood. She was break.
ing up Der chlld's rocking horse because
sne could not buy coal.
Ihe religious papers are taking up what
suue OIL them call the Cooking stove
npostasy." "he point Of their complaint
seems TO be that the caterer is gaining
SrouLd at the church sociable, and, ike